Whomever the Knight(mare) Takes
by ExplainingTheIndescribable
Summary: Bellamione. Two years into the future sees Bellatrix and Hermione nicely settled with a daughter who is a magical prodigy, and accidentally wipes Hermione's memory. There's no cure. Ironically, Hermione is the only one who could save herself. This leads Bellatrix to a time turner and a convoluted plan. Havoc ensues. Gets darker. Ooc-ness. Sequel to Wherever the Knight (bus) Leads.


Hermione took a moment to steady the two mugs she held, the tea nearly swishing over the brim, before she crept carefully towards the kitchen door, swinging it open with her foot.

Walking slowly across the living room carpet, she placed the cups down carefully on the coffee table by the couch, and was about to call up to Bellatrix when she heard the soft pad of her slippers already making their way along the corridor to the stairs to join them. Bellatrix had the nose of a bloodhound when it came to freshly made peppermint tea.

If she hadn't been distractedly smiling at these thoughts, she might have noticed their daughter had managed to crawl over to the other side of the table and picked up the vine wood wand lying on it. She wiggled the wand around, trying to make the same pretty lights appear that her mothers did, but without much success.

Hermione noticed the waving wand and grinned. Only a year old and already interested in magic and trying to cast spells. She couldn't be prouder. Until Lyra tried to point Hermione's wand at her, but there was a table in the way. Sparks flew briefly, before the wand was snapped against the table top.

Bellatrix arrived in time to see their baby daughter cast some kind of spell and giggle, a split second before her wand snapped. Bellatrix missed that last part though. She only saw the smile slip from Hermione's face before she tipped backwards, and fell into the carpet. Bellatrix was at her side in an instant. She snatched the broken bit of wood, and holding her unconscious wife in one arm, and supporting her baby daughter in the other, apparated the three of them to Harry and Draco's. In the space of two seconds she had thrust Ella into Draco's arms, and was gone again without so much as a how do you do.

The next stop was St Mungo's. Despite her vast talents with magic, Bellatrix did not trust her healing abilities. Not when it came to an unconscious Hermione.

It didn't take long before a kindly looking Healer Merriweather came into Hermione's room.

"What was the last spell cast from that wand before this happened?"

"Obliviate."

"How powerful?"

"Enough to erase a few years."

"Right. Well, even a powerful Obliviate is not enough to explain her present condition, but it may be a variant of the spell. Can you contact the caster? Finding out their intentions might help us prep her for any aftershocks."

"Yes and no."

The healer looked up from a chart and gazed at Bellatrix expectantly.

"It was our one year old daughter."

Merriweather froze in utter disbelief, it would have been comical if not for Hermione's own stasis a few steps away.

"She must be quite the child."

That drew an attempt at a small smile from Bellatrix.

"She really is. But what does that mean for Hermione?"

"Well, without knowing how this variant of the spell was intended to work, we have no way of knowing what the outcome will be."

"So, what are her options? What's next?"

There was a pause before the healer replied.

"The reversal of spells… is a tricky thing. It's still considered experimental. Particularly in instances where the exact nature of spell, is unknown. Time may be the only healer that might work in delicate situations such as this."

"Time? That's your solution?"

"It's the only solution we have right now, Miss Black."

Bellatrix desperately wanted to be angry, to flip tables and scream and throw things with all her might, she wanted to cause havoc. There had to be something, someone with an answer. She had to be able to _do_ something. Anything. She was working herself up, frustration at the situation, at herself, making her clench her fists next to her. Until she caught sight of Hermione lying there next to her on a hospital bed, her pale cheeks making her look so frail and lifeless. The exact opposite of the witch she had come to know. It drained all of the energy out of her. In the end, a hoarse whisper was all she could manage.

"That's not good enough."

Merriweather dug around her pocket and pulled out a small strawberry lollipop.

"You look like you need it."

Bellatrix looked at the sweet blankly for a moment.

"Thanks."

She took it and tucked it into her pocket on autopilot, ignoring the ginger healer as she left. Her mind was working overtime trying to figure out a solution.

What could she possibly do now.


End file.
